


Logic Puzzle: Fumizuki

by lirin



Series: Logic puzzles [3]
Category: Heian Jidai | Heian Period RPF
Genre: Gen, Logic puzzle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 01:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14631345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirin/pseuds/lirin
Summary: In the Heian period, the 7th month of the year was known as Fumizuki: the month of letters. In this puzzle, four court ladies start the month with poetry.





	1. The puzzle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Allekha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allekha/gifts).



> Many thanks to Allekha for choosing such an interesting setting for her puzzle, and then waiting patiently when it took me forever to find the time to research it properly and do it justice! I hope this puzzle was worth the wait.
> 
> And many thanks to the indispensable Kittychan, who answered all my Japanese language questions to the best of her ability, and even took a stab at some of my historical questions even though the Heian period is not a focus of hers. Any historical or linguistic errors that may remain are, of course, my own.
> 
> For those unfamiliar with this sort of puzzle, further instructions can be found in the chapter end notes.

In the second year of the Kankō era, four court ladies (Akazome Emon, Izumi Shikibu, Murasaki Shikibu, and Sei Shōnagon) are busy writing poems. Each woman is a different age (29, 32, 39, or 46). Each finished her most recent poem during the current month of Fumizuki, on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, or 5th day of the month. And each wrote her poem in a different location and about a different topic. From the clues provided, can you figure out for each person how old she is, what her poem is about, and where and when she wrote it?

  * Lady Murasaki is older than the person who wrote about a love affair, but younger than the person who wrote about Empress Shōshi and the person who was sitting on the southern shore of Lake Biwa when she wrote her most recent poem.
  * The person who wrote her most recent poem on the fourth day of Fumizuki is seven years older than the person who wrote her most recent poem in her apartment in the palace.
  * The poem about peach blossoms and the poem that was written in the garden closest to the Shōmeimon gate of the palace were both completed prior to the completion of either the poem by the eldest of the ladies or the poem by Lady Shōnagon.
  * Lady Murasaki is younger than the person who wrote her poem while visiting family and the person who wrote about wind on water, but older than the person who completed her most recent poem on the first day of the month.
  * Lady Izumi is twenty-nine years old.
  * The poem about Empress Shōshi was the last to be completed.



**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Logic puzzles contain all the information you need to know who was thinking about what and where they were and all, but not in a particularly linear order. If you keep track of what you do know and eliminate everything that can't be true, eventually, you'll figure out what is true. The grid helps you keep track of what you know; you can fill it with X's for things you know must be false and O's for things you know must be true.
> 
> If you want more help, Penny/Dell Puzzles has a short guide to solving logic puzzles [here](https://www.pennydellpuzzles.com/upload/documents/How%20to%20Solve%20Logic%20Problems.pdf). (Link is to a PDF.)
> 
> Grid was taken from [T.L. Styer's Logic Puzzle Grids](http://www.tlstyer.com/LogicPuzzleGrids/) and done up in Microsoft Paint.
> 
> Answer Key is in the following chapter.


	2. The solution

Warning: this chapter contains the answers to the puzzle. If you haven't solved it, you might want to go back to the previous chapter without reading further.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Akazome Emon is 46. She wrote a poem about Empress Shōshi on the 5th day of Fumizuki, while she was visiting family.  
Izumi Shikibu is 29. She wrote a poem about a love affair on the 1st day of Fumizuki, while sitting in the garden that is closest to the Shōmeimon gate of the palace.  
Murasaki Shikibu is 32. She wrote a poem about peach blossoms on the 3rd day of Fumizuki, while sitting in her apartment in the palace.  
Sei Shōnagon is 39. She wrote a poem about wind on water on the 4th day of Fumizuki, while sitting on the southern shore of Lake Biwa.

**Author's Note:**

> A few historical notes...these contain some minor spoilers so I would advise against reading them before you've solved the puzzle...
> 
> My puzzle is set in 1005 AD (Kankō 2). As far as I can tell from my research, almost all of my chosen characters would have been present at court in that year; we'll just have to pretend Sei Shōnagon was still around for some reason. (There were two rival empresses around that time; Murasaki Shikibu, Izumi Shikibu, and Akazome Emon were all at the court of Empress Shōshi, but Sei Shōnagon was at the court of Empress Teishi, and probably left upon Teishi's death in 1001.)
> 
> None of the characters' birthdates are known for certain. For the three that have a specific year that seems to be thought most likely, I went with that; but since Akazome Emon's birth year was only narrowed down to between 957 and 964, I chose 959 for its effect on clue #2.


End file.
